Salvaged Vehicles in Mississippi

Car accidents, severe weather, vandals―all of these are potential causes for an insurance company to declare your vehicle a total loss. When that happens, your insurance company will usually "buy" the car from you by replacing it, or you can arrange to keep the car yourself as a salvage vehicle.

If you choose to keep the car and rebuild it, or have it rebuilt, you will need a salvage title to work on the car, then to have it inspected. You will also need a salvage title before you can sell the car to someone else.

You can apply for a salvage title if you must replace a minimum number of components of the car, or if it has been declared a total loss due to collision, flood, fire, hail, theft, vandalism, or other reason. This provision only applies to the car if it's less than 10 years old and has a value that exceeds $1,500.

When you receive your title, it will be marked "Flood Damage" or "Hail Damage" if the salvage occurred because of those events. A hail damaged car will lose that designation on the title after repair and inspection, but the flood designation will continually remain on the title from that point.

If you have rebuilt your salvage vehicle, you will need to have it inspected before you have it retitled. For more information, visit the Department of Revenue website.